


Enthralled

by VampireHydeFTW



Category: the GazettE
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:15:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5068612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireHydeFTW/pseuds/VampireHydeFTW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Reita finds the bard on the merchant's ship he knows he shouldn't care about the other's fate. He could have his pick of every man and woman here, the strongest or the most beautiful could be his. To choose Ruki would be maddness, born from stupidity or having too much and yet not to choose Ruki would mean his death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enthralled

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a challenge fic to combine J Rock with my favourite TV program/Book/Anime etc. The inspiration chosen was "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George RR Martin (Game of Thrones etc).
> 
> Spoiler Warning: I have avoided all spoilers in this story wherever possible. No major events, canon characters or deliberate spoilers have been mentioned. However due to much of the source of Ironborn culture, which this story relies heavily on, comes from the fourth book "A Feast for Crows" aspects of Ironborn culture have not been mentioned in previous books, or in the HBO adaptation of the books.

Reita stood besides the ship's Captain feeling rather useless now the battle was done. It had ended quickly and he had barely set foot on the other ship before the enemy surrendered. Had it been worth two months at sea? No. Still the salt was in his blood and there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

He watched the Captain carefully, knowing that in a few years this could be him. He was young but had made first mate already and had aspirations to go further. In the Iron Islands every Captain was a King, at least of his own boat. Reita dreamed of the day he would have his own ship and crew. Nobody was going to stop him. No matter the price he would pay it, iron or gold. There was more honour in the former which was why his sword was kept sharp and by his side at all times. You never knew when an enemy ship might attack in the night. A lesson the crew of the now sinking vessel had learnt the hard way.

“Step forward,” the captain ordered what had first appeared to be a young boy. In the light though it was obvious he was a grown man, thin and lacking in height he wouldn't be strong enough to send to the mines or plough the fields. It made him next to useless to most of the men on board but Reita couldn't tear his eyes away from him. He may appear weak but his character was strong and his blond hair framed his pleasing features perfectly. “It's a shame you're not a child, a child would still have a chance to grow.”

“Send him to the ocean!” a particularity nasty crew member jeered. The captain only had to look at him to make him shut up, a trait Reita admired in him. To command that level of respect was any leader's first goal. The cheering should have stopped, but hidden by the laughter Reita still heard the jeer.

“Reita could make him into his salt wife,” tensing he glanced at the captain who hadn't heard the words. Nobody knew about his perversion, it had just been a joke but it hit to close to home. He pretended he hadn't heard, if the captain hadn't then it was believable he wouldn't have either.

“How do you earn your living?” the captain questioned the young hostage.

“I sing,” came the answer. “They call me Ruki. Maybe you've heard of me?”

“Can't say I have.” the captain said thoughtfully. A travelling bard was usually loyal to no one, and surely that was what this Ruki was? He had been found on a merchant ship, it was unlikely he belonged or worked for anyone. The other men were more than likely to end up thralls, the women salt wives if not the same. Ruki however was different, a generous captain might let him go free. This Captain wasn't so generous. “Anyone need a bard?”

It was a trick question. To answer yes would sacrifice a sailor's right to a stronger more useful man. Everyone knew that. To say yes you would have to have no need for any hostage, or be too stupid to know better.

“No? Then the Drowned God can have him,” The Captain declared as he dragged Ruki to the edge of the ship. He should let him drown. What good was a bard in these harsh times? He didn't know the man, he shouldn't feel responsible for what was entirely the Captain's choice.

“Wait,” Reita called out, “My sister might have use for him. I'll take him.”

“You will?” the Captain asked surprised, Reita could have had his pick of all the men here.

“Why not? It's her birthday next month.” Reita explained with a shrug. If he acted casually enough the men would never know, never suspect, that he had far less savoury intentions for his new thrall. As he took Reita by the arm he didn't miss the look on Ruki's face. Instead of fear, hate or disgust he could have sworn Ruki appeared happy to be chosen. Then again the alternative had been to be thrown overboard. He was most likely happy because he had been given the chance to live.

 

“You want me as your slave,” Ruki accused the moment they were alone. “I saw the way you looked at me.”

“A slave would be whipped for that comment,” Reita commented, “Lucky for you there are no slaves in the seven kingdoms.”

“No? Then what is a thrall?” Ruki challenged, “You capture men and force them to do your bidding. That's slavery.”

“A thrall has rights, that's the difference,” Reita explained with a casual shrug. He hadn't thought much about the distinction between the two. A slave was illegal, a thrall was not. That was all he had ever needed to know. They had rights, but what were they? “You're children will be born free men and you can marry who you choose. You're a servant, not a slave.”

“A servant with no say in what they do and no pay is a slave,” Ruki corrected stubbornly.

“I'm not arguing these definitions with a thrall!” Reita said, holding his anger in check. Ruki was too cheeky for his position and yet it only seemed to make him want him more. And he did want him. Now they were alone he could openly study Ruki's face and didn't have to hide the way it made him feel. Nobody would believe the words of a thrall.

“I'm not your thrall,” Ruki declared. His stubbornness seemed to know no bounds, “I will be your bard, but I remain free.”

“I paid the iron price,” Reita began, frowning as Ruki shook his head.

“There's no blood on your sword, you paid nothing.” Ruki declared. He was right and it bruised his pride enough that Ruki was able to catch him off guard. “Where I'm from what we want is considered normal. I'm not your thrall, but I will be your paramour.”

“I'm not a noble and around here nobody would accept it,” Reita replied. Cursing himself for falling for Ruki's trap. He should be denying his sexual feelings, not the words they used to describe them.

“Fine, not a paramour. You can even call me a thrall if helps your pride. Just as long as we both know better.” Ruki bargained. Sick of arguing with Ruki he pulled him closer, and claimed his lips with his own. He could taste salt from the sea breeze and something sweet like honey. He could feel the others strength, hidden behind his slender frame. For the first time ever he had finally met somebody who made him feel whole. The only shame was that this love would have to be kept secret.

“When your boat attacked I thought I would meet The Stranger tonight,” Ruki admitted as Reita broke to catch his breath, “Imagine my surprise to find The Maiden instead.”

“What?” Reita demanded. He sensed Ruki was talking about The Seven, the gods worshipped by most of Westeros, but they meant little to him. He had always followed the teachings of The Drowned God, all other religions were false. “Are you saying I'm a woman?”

“No!” Ruki said with a playful smile. “The Maiden can represents beauty, where as the Stranger,”

“Is death.” Reita finished. That much he had figured out.

“I've never met a man who didn't know about The Seven before,” Ruki confessed, staring at Reita as he spoke. His believes were alien to Ruki, just like his gods were alien to him. It didn't matter in the end, not to him. Ruki could believe in any god he choose. In time Ruki would worship him, he would be enthralled.

 

Ruki ignored the cold wind as he walked down the path. He'd grown tough in his year with Reita. Stronger, harder and able to hold his own in a fight. The scared boy of a year past was long dead, and he didn't mourn him. He had adapted to life here, with all the freedom he had demanded on that first night. Officially he was still a bard, but he was far more that that. On their first night he had refereed to Reita as like The Maiden, for in despite his harsh nature he was that beautiful. He hadn't realised how true his words had been that day. The Maiden represented more than beauty, she was also love.

Reita would be back soon, after one of his long ocean voyages. As he did every morning he had come to the hill where he stood watching out to sea in hope of seeing his ship. This time his search wasn't in vain, Reita would soon return. Happily he headed down the cliff path, pausing not far from the bottom when he saw the priest on the beach. As always it took him a moment to come to terms with the fact that these men didn't worship The Seven. Funny how only their religion was strange to him now.

Stopping to watch the priest lead a young teenage boy into the ocean he did his best to remain calm. This ritual was barbaric insanity, but even Reita refused to accept his judgement. He'd been scolded many times for being unable to understand and he wondered if Reita ever thought his own religion was as crazy. It was quite likely, though Ruki couldn't see how anything could come close to drowning children in the ocean. Biting his lip, he knew better than to interfere, he prayed to The Mother's mercy that he would survive.

Finally, after what felt like far too long, the small limp body was dragged onto the sand. Dead, just like every boy who agreed to this ritual, but would he stay that way? The priest had a ritual for revival that surely shouldn't work, and yet as far as Ruki had seen did.

“Come on,” Ruki silently prayed as the false priest breathed his own air into the dead child. For a tense minute nothing happened until finally, mercifully, the boy coughed up the ocean he had swallowed and was reborn a man.

“What is dead may never die,” the Priest chanted, the favourite saying of these men. “but rises again, harder and stronger than before.”

There were three more children on the beach and Ruki watched the second one follow in the footsteps of the first. Every drowning was just as intense as the very first he was witnessed. He would never get used to this, but he stayed every time. He was the only one here pleading with The Mother for her mercy, though not the only one praying that the boys would be revived.

Usually this ritual went smoothly, or at least the two times he had watched before nothing had gone wrong. This time was different, for as the third boy lay on the sand he didn't awaken. The Stranger had come for these heathens at last. He felt no joy in The Stranger's coming, but didn't mourn the boy either. He had known what he was getting himself into. It had been his choice.

“Father, judge him kindly.” Ruki prayed, doing his best to ignore the men below decreeing that the boy had been too weak to please their god. The Drowned God was a cruel God, if he should exist at all.

The last boy was shaking as he stepped into the water, but this time Ruki didn't pray for him. Instead he walked towards the harbour trying to forget what he had just seen. These men were monsters and he wanted no more of this.

 

“I thought you would be happier to see me,” Reita commented much later as he found Ruki in his rooms. The bard had been reserved today, behaviour that he hadn't seen since the first couple of weeks that he had lived here. He knew it meant Ruki wasn't happy, but did he trust him enough to tell him his concerns this time?

“I saw a boy drowned this morning,” Ruki explained, “He didn't survive.”

“No, he lives in the Drowned God's halls,” Reita corrected. Ruki's lack of faith in the one true god often worried him. Their separate religion were a chasm between them. More than just belief it controlled their actions, their choices and in some aspects their personalities. Ruki was scared of death, the Ironborn were not. He'd believed this fear made men weak, but Ruki was strong in every other way. His very presence made Reita question his gods, in the same he made Ruki question his own. Neither were willing to give up their views though. Even the arguments had grown tired.

“Fed fish by mermaids,” Ruki added. “Have you even seen a mermaid?”

“No,” Reita replied, “They remain in his halls.”

“If you haven't seen them, how do you know they exist?” Ruki demanded. “What I saw was The Stranger take a boy's life. A foolish child who choose drowning when he could have lived!”

“You saw him then?” Reita mocked, “Your Stranger?”

“You're all strangers here,” Ruki retorted. “All you people ever bring is death.”

“Then why are you still breathing?” Reita demanded, “Why does your heart still pump blood through your veins, keeping you warm, alive? If I am death, why then did I permit you to live?” He had gone too far, he realised as he saw Ruki's grieve harden into anger. He realised too late that what Ruki needed was comfort, to be held like a child and reassured that everything was all right.

“My life is a choice for you to make?” Ruki asked coldly. He hated him, Reita realised in shock. He'd been scared of him once, before he was loving, but never once had he ever looked at him with such disdain. “I won't let you make that choice.”

“Ruki?” Reita asked, shocked more by the fact Ruki actually got up, than his words. He dived towards the high window, blocking Ruki's path but that wasn't where the small man had decided to go. By the time he realised what was happening the door had been slammed shut.

Hurried he followed, heading up the stairs only to realise too late Ruki was going down. Perhaps he had mistaken his words? Instead of suicide maybe Ruki was just running away? It was crazy to think things could escalate so quickly.

He should let Ruki run, but part of him was still worried. Ruki wasn't happy here, they just pretended that he was because it was easier for both of them to believe. Cursing his harsh words Reita hurried down the stairs and soon spotted the dark man shaped shadow heading towards the ocean. Had Ruki travelled so far already? His misdirection and hesitation had cost him more time that he had realised. Cursing Reita began to run after Ruki's retreating figure, the cold night air making it harder to breath but he didn't slow. Something bad was happening, if he did nothing Ruki would be gone.

He caught up with Ruki by the ocean's edge, surprised to find his lover had stopped to wait for him. Determination burned in his eyes as he stared out at the ocean, black in the night. If it hadn't been for the clear sky and full moon they wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.

“Ruki, I'm sorry. I forget you're not from around here.” Reita apologised, “Please don't do this. Whatever this is?”

“Stranger or Drowned God, my life is their choice and theirs alone.” Ruki declared.

“You don't have to do this,” Reita pleaded, “You're proving nothing.”

“Perhaps not to you,” Ruki said, “But I don't expect you to understand.”

“I understand more than you think.”Reita said, “Enough to know you're not happy here, but you pretend so well it's often easy to forget.”

“I'm happy with you, that's the only part of these Islands I do like.” Ruki confessed, his hate fading as he took in the sincerity of Reita's words and the kindness in his eyes.“You're my warmth in these cold harsh lands. With you, I can learn to be happy but first I must prove I am your equal and not just some guy you saved. I give my body to the gods tonight because I know the Mother will have mercy and spare me. Or maybe there are no Seven, and the Drowned God blesses me instead?”

“Maybe all the God's are real?” Reita offered, as close to a compromise as he was able to make, “The Seven, The Drowned, The Red, The Old, all of them. If so, they will all see what I see tonight.”

“Which is?” Ruki asked, hesitating now as he waited for Reita's final words.

“The bravest bard in Westeros, and the most beautiful,” Reita reassured him. Gently he kissed Ruki's lips and stepped back as he watched Ruki walk into the dark waves. He didn't pray that night, he had no need. No god would take the life of his man. Not tonight.

 

Ruki awoke on the rocks, coughing up the sea from his lungs. He'd been reckless, but it had paid of hadn't it? Reita would stop thinking of him as weak now that he had been blessed by his god. As far as he was concerned it had been a gamble, and the odds were in his favour. Most boys survived this, and he was young and strong. Reita wouldn't let him drown too long, the risk had been small.

The gain though, that had been great. He could see the new found admiration in Reita's eyes, the look of kinship as he helped him back to his feet. They were both wet now and shivering from the cold. Equal, he savoured the thought like a precious gem and smiled as they silently returned to Reita's home.

He stripped the moment he was in Reita's bedroom, desperate to rid himself of the sodden clothes. He was still freezing, even by the fire and was more than happy to let Reita wrap his slender body with warm furs. Quietly he curled up on the sofa and made no attempts to hide the fact he was watching Reita remove his own damp clothes. They'd never gone far sexually, Reita far less comfortable with his homosexuality than Ruki was. He'd been brought up to believe that love was never wrong, it was strange to think the rest of Westeros weren't so forgiving. In this land of harsh men their love was seen as weakness by many, but not all.

It wasn't long before Reita was slipping in the furs beside him, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and pulling him possessively against his chest. He was used to Reita's domination over him, he wasn't used to the affection. Their love making, if it could be called that, was usually little more than him being forced to his knees. Pleasuring Reita with his mouth or hands, desperately helping himself to his own pleasure. It was selfish for Reita to act this way and it left him feeling desperate for more. Was Reita even aware of just how one sided this all was? Perhaps not, but if he did it was just another sign that despite his words Reita had always seem Ruki as nothing more than his thrall. 

“I'm glad The Stranger spared you,” Reita said as he gently stroked Ruki's hair. It took Ruki a moment to realise that Reita had made a reference to The Seven. Had he said it for his benefit or because he was beginning to believe? No, Reita only believed in two gods, The Drowned and The Storm. He was just being kind.

Perhaps this new found affection gave him the desire to move things on further, or perhaps he was still feeling foolishly brave. Either way he was the one who instigated the first kiss that night. Taking Reita's mouth beneath his own, neither man moving away until his lungs cried out for air. He was drowning for the second time that night, first in water and now passion. He pulled back gasping, a laugh escaping as Reita pushed him down against the seat they were both sitting on and smirked in that way that sent his blood racing southwards. He wasn't the only one desperate for affection tonight.

Once again Reita surprised him. This time by taking his hardening length in his hands and slowly stroking him to life. He bit his lip nervously, not sure how Reita wanted him to react. He'd never been touched like this before, not by Reita though he had experienced all kinds of pleasure before coming to these Islands. He knew his way around another man's body, but he had serious doubts that Reita knew the same.

He was shocked to find that Reita knew a thing or two about stroking another's dick and he blushed as he realised that the most likely reason for this was that he regularly held his own length in this way. He imagined it vividly, strong calloused fingers running over that length he had explored so well with mouth and tongue. A quiet gasp escape him and he almost squirmed in pleasure. Reita knew what he was doing all right and he couldn't bring himself to look away.

“I want to go further tonight, I can't resist this temptation any longer,” Reita warmed Ruki. Smiling Ruki nodded his agreement, surprised that instead of following his promise Reita got up and left him alone and cold once more. Silently he watched as Reita retrieved two objects, recognising the first as a lube made primarily from some kind of oil. Usually olives, or some kind of nut. The second made his eyes widen in delight. That couldn't be what he thought it was, it's very presence made it clear just how serious Reita was about tonight.

“It's beautiful,” Ruki said as he took the toy from Reita's hand. Things like this were hard to find and he didn't dare ask where Reita had got the perfect glass replica of manhood. Gently he ran his fingers over the smooth surface, teasing Reita as he began to lick the length with his tongue.

“I don't want to see it in that end,” Reita scolded as he took the toy back from Ruki. He sounded worried, but Ruki wasn't.

“Good, that's not where I want it either,” Ruki replied with a cheeky smile. Quickly he moved onto hands and knees, eagerly anticipating whatever Reita had planned next. He didn't have to wait long before feeling the glass pushing against his entrance but he had to grit his teeth to stand the pain. It was tight and he wasn't ready, it made him tense up which only made things worse. He almost cried out for Reita to stop, but his body seemed already used to the intrusion. Relief was joined by pleasure and he happily pushed back as more of the toy moved inside him.

“That's right, take it all,” Reita encouraged, not even realising how sensual his voice was to Ruki right now. Eager to obey Ruki pushed back, moaning softly as pleasure rushed through his body, only stopping when the glass balls pushed against his own ass.

“Hold it still,” Ruki begged as he began to move against the dildo, moaning softly whenever he found the pleasure he was seeking. Oh this was good, so good he had forgotten that Reita was watching his every move. It had been far too long since he had anything other than his own fingers inside him, it made him appreciate the toy even more.

If Reita judged him for his neediness he said nothing. His actions perhaps speaking louder than his words as he removed the toy and pushed his own way into Ruki's more than happy body. He'd been watching Ruki, learning and quickly set up a fast pace that imitated the angles Ruki had been taking the toy. Delighted at Reita for being so talented, or perhaps smart enough to have learned fast, Ruki met every forward thrust. He was part of Reita now, and Reita was part of him and it was how it should be. What had been lost in this farce of a relationship had been found this night. Their love acknowledged, mutual respect earned and now pleasure was the reward. Ruki came to the feelings of warm, strong, fingers wrapped around his length and moments later he was filled by Reita's warm seed.

Utterly spent now he returned to his earlier position on the sofa, curled up under the furs for modesty now opposed to warm. Once again Reita pulled him to him and he rested against the others pounding chest. For the first time here he was truly happy and content here and he suspected that Reita felt the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I have done my best to explain everything within the story but if you have any questions, or are genuinely curious to learn more, please comment below


End file.
